[An Inside Facebook post]
The words “social media” seem to have been on the lips of everyone discussing Democrat Martha Coakley’s loss to Republican Scott Brown for the senate seat in traditionally left-leaning Massachusetts. Although social media alone doesn’t win elections, platforms like Facebook have increasingly become an integral part of getting out the word about candidates around the world, and while Facebook fans may not translate directly to votes, there does seem to be at least some correlation.
Brown got twice the number of searches as Coakley in Massachusetts and nearly three times more across the country, AdAge reported last week. From the article:
“On Twitter, @scottbrownMA has 10,765 followers vs. @MarthaCoakley with 3,657; on Facebook, it’s 83,535 friends [fans] to 15,573; and on YouTube, Mr. Brown has a souped-up channel with 675,208 views, while videos posted by the Coakley campaign have been viewed 76,805 times.”
Obviously, Brown’s 83,000 fans weren’t what won the election (among other reasons, not every person who became a fan is a Massachusetts voter). Still, every vote counts. Facebook — and Pages, in particular — allow politicians to communicate with supporters, and drum up enough enthusiasm that their friends decide to join in, too…[See the full post here]
